Moldova's EU accession talks: what happened by 22 June 2024

What had Moldova and its neighbours done in the days before 22 June 2024? Two developments stood out in the region's politics.

On 21 June 2024, Moldovan president Maia Sandu signed the decree that began negotiations on Moldova's accession to the European Union. She also announced that the first Moldova–EU intergovernmental conference would take place on 25 June.

Farther west, a diplomatic question had been raised several days earlier. On 17 June 2024, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk ordered Germany to explain a recorded incident in which German police appeared to desert a migrant family in Osinów Dolny, Poland, just east of the Germany–Poland border.

The two developments were separate. One marked a formal step in Moldova's path towards EU membership, with a date set for the first intergovernmental conference. The other was a demand from Warsaw for clarification from Berlin over the conduct of German police near the shared border.